With temperatures soaring in the American mid-east, the Grand National Cross-country Championships takes its traditional mid-summer break.
However, keen to keep up the momentum after winning the latest round of the GNCC series back in July, New Zealand's Paul Whibley was determined not to ease off - he was keenfor more competition.
So, instead of taking a well-earned break, the Yamaha ace decided to tackle round seven of the Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV (OMA) series in Iowa, further extending his lead in that championship. The defending OMA series champion had to endure a 17-hour drive from the AmPro Yamaha base in South Carolina to get to the venue at Winterset, Iowa, but it was time well spent with a solid victory in the end to show for his efforts.
The start again went to plan for the Kiwi hero, with Whibley (Yamaha YZ450F) taking the holeshot award as he quickly leapt into the lead and took immediate control of the race. But he soon had a fight on his hands.
"I missed a hot line and that was all the opening my main rival, Chris Bach, needed, with him moving into the lead. Now it was my turn to apply the pressure. Late in the lap, Chris slowed and pulled over with some bike problems. I inherited the lead and a small buffer over the following riders.
"On the second lap, I had a small tip over and Chris was quickly back on my heels after restarting his bike.
"The racing was exciting up front and my teammate, Jordan Ashburn, was close behind on his YZ250F. Bach's bike stopped again, this time out of gas," he said. "Meanwhile, Jordan was riding the wheels off the 250 four-stroke. Unfortunately, his brakes couldn't keep up and a small problem slowed his pace and allowed me to pull away over the last couple of laps." Ashburn hung on to the finish and secured second spot, making it a Yamaha 1-2 result, with Honda rider Scott Watkins taking third.
The main motorcycle cross-country race action in the US, the GNCC series, resumes on September 11, at Unadilla, near New York, and the Kiwi ace has shown he's ready for a final push towards winning that title as well.
